Lollapalooza bigger than ever, but will it be better?

Grant Park music festival expands capacity, acreage in its sixth year

August 06, 2010

Lollapalooza had maxed out. For the second straight year in 2009, the festival sold out and 75,000 fans a day turned Grant Park into a mass of sunbaked humanity. Something had to give, and I argued in my '09 wrap-up story for a smaller festival with fewer stages, fewer bands and a lower ceiling on attendance.

Did the powers that be listen to me? Of course not. This year's festival has the potential to be even bigger, with the attendance capacity bumped to 95,000 a day.

The good news is that the festival will now have significantly more room for its eight stages; two of the stages will be moved westward across Columbus Drive, and the total acreage assigned to the festival will increase to 115 from 80. Theoretically, this will alleviate some of the bottlenecking that occurs around Buckingham Fountain each year and reduce sound bleed between stages.

Charlie Jones, one of the co-owners of Lollapalooza promoters C3 Presents, says he will likely sell fewer tickets than allotted this year to gauge the impact of the expanded festival on the fans and the park itself. He says it's unlikely that the festival would approach capacity, and if it did, he would cut off sales short of the goal.

We'll withhold judgment until we see for ourselves whether Lolla presents a more fan-friendly environment in its first significant expansion since it went to three days from two in 2006. One thing's for certain: Lollapalooza is the most scrutinized music event in Chicago each year, for multiple reasons. Not the least of which is that it draws so many fans, but also because it resides on a revered slice of city property, contributes millions of dollars to city coffers and spikes the local economy to the tune of about $20 million annually.

As usual, we'll be out in force covering this weekend's events. And, while we gear up, here's a look back at how the festival has evolved since its inaugural year in Grant Park:

2005: The festival is booked for only two days and draws about 33,000 people a day. In its first year, Lolla is a pretty mellow deal, and rock is relatively untested on a large scale in Grant Park. There's actually room to stretch out and roam. One thing hasn't changed: The weather on the final day is oppressively hot. Into this oven steps Arcade Fire, dressed like undertakers in the cast from "Six Feet Under" but frolicking like schoolchildren at recess. The nine-piece band draws one of the largest crowds of the weekend, transcends the recordings on its debut album, "Funeral," and establishes itself as a band of future arena-level stars (Arcade Fire will headline this year's Sunday finale, and I can't think of a more appropriate choice).

2006: Kanye West becomes the first hip-hop act to headline the festival. His performance is galvanizing, a mixture of generosity and bravado, and above all a celebration of Chicago hip-hop. He invites Common, Lupe Fiasco and Twista to share the stage with him and perform their own songs. The rapper delivers dramatic versions of "Jesus Walks," "Gold Digger" and "Crack Music" with a large band that includes a seven-piece string section outfitted as masked bandits. West briefly reprises the Gnarls Barkley hit "Crazy" — the song of the summer and of the festival itself, performed no fewer than four times by West, the Raconteurs, Tapes 'N Tapes and originators Gnarls Barkley. West is in a celebratory mood. The ex-South Sider looks over at his mother, educator Donda West, watching from the wings, and beams. "See, Mom, I told ya," he says. "I told ya I wanna rap. It works!" It was a great moment for mother and son, all the more poignant because Donda West died the next year from complications after cosmetic surgery.

2007: Pearl Jam stirs controversy when singer Eddie Vedder's commentary on then-President George W. Bush is censored on the Internet simulcast by AT&T. But the weekend belongs to Iggy Pop and the Stooges, who invite 250 fans to join them onstage for a chaotic version of "No Fun." The prancing, squirming Pop embodies the Stooges' proto-punk attitude, a sound that has only grown in stature since the band's epochal 1969 debut. He may be the oldest performer in Lollapalooza's brief Grant Park history (he turned 60 that April) but he makes everyone else on the bill seem safe and static in comparison. The man born James Osterberg is as charismatic and terrifying as a wild animal just released from its cage, his dirty blond mane whipping in the wind. And, oh yeah, a performer named Lady Gaga makes her debut on a smaller stage to a mostly indifferent audience. (Just taking a wild guess, but I'm thinking the response will be slightly different when she headlines the main stage Friday at Lollapalooza 2010.)